The struggle for Iraq's future

In connection with the screenings of the Fritt Ord-supported documentary film Nowhere to Hide about Iraqi family father and nurse Nori Sharif, Fritt Ord, the Human Rights Human Wrongs Film Festival and Ten Thousand Images invite the public to three debates at the Cinematek:

The struggle for Iraq’s future – Wednesday, 15 February, at 7.45 p.m.
Media on War (in English) – Saturday, 18 February, at 6.30 p.m.
How to protect civilians in times of war? – Saturday, 18 February, at 8 p.m.

About the debate ‘The struggle for Iraq’s future’:
Along with the UK and the other Allied forces, the US invaded Iraq in 2003, without UN approval. In 2011, the US military forces withdrew, and in the resultant power vacuum, IS has managed to take over large areas and the violence has escalated. The level of conflict in Iraq is extremely high at the moment, with IS, the Iraqi Army, Shia militias, Sunni militias, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, Turkish troops and US military advisers and special forces as combatants, while the civilian population is suffering tremendously and being forced to flee.

Why has the conflict in Iraq turned into this patchwork of combatant groups, and what do they hope to achieve? What are the prospects for Iraq as a state? Will peace be possible? Norwegian military advisers take part in the struggle against IS, but what is it they actually do?

Panel:
Henrik Thune, director of the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF)
Cecilie Hellestveit, one of Norway’s foremost Middle East analysts, writer, researcher and commentator
Walid al-Kubaisi, Iraqi writer, journalist and commentator

Moderator: Erik Aasheim (Primus Productions)

Time and venue: Wednesday, 15 February, 7.45 p.m. at Cinemateket

The film Nowhere to Hide is scheduled for the following screenings at Human Rights Human Wrongs:

Wednesday, 15 February, 5.30 p.m. at Cinemateket
Friday, 17 February, 1.00 p.m. at Cinemateket
Saturday, 18 February, 4.00 p.m. at Cinemateket

Read more about the Oslo première here.

About the film festival:
The Human Rights Human Wrongs Film Festival is being arranged from 14 to 19 February, and features 25 Norwegian and foreign documentary films of current interest. The debates are part of HRHW Live, the segment of the festival programme that includes debates, exhibitions, etc. The full festival programme can be downloaded here (link) or here (pdf).